1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording cartridge provided with an ink jet recording that performs recording on a recording medium by discharging ink from the discharge ports, a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording cartridge, and an apparatus for manufacturing an ink jet recording cartridge. The invention also relates to a recording apparatus.
The present invention is applicable to a printer that records on papers, threads, textiles, cloths, leathers, metals, plastics, glass, woods, ceramics, and other recording media, a copying machine, a facsimile equipment provided with communication system, a word processor or some other apparatuses provided with the printing unit therefor. The invention is also applicable to an industrial printing system complexly structured in combination with various processing apparatuses. Here, in the specification of the present invention, the term xe2x80x9crecordxe2x80x9d means not only the provision of characters, graphics, and other meaningful images, but also, it means the provision of patterns or other images which do not present any particular meaning when recorded on a recording medium.
2. Related Background Art
For the conventional ink jet recording apparatus, there have been used an ink jet recording head that performs recording on a recording medium by discharging ink form the discharge ports, and an ink jet recording cartridge which is formed integrally with an ink tank containing ink to be supplied to the ink jet recording head or which is structured to use the recording head and the ink tank individually. For the ink jet recording apparatus, a carriage is provided to reciprocate in the direction almost orthogonal to the carrying direction of a recording medium. The ink jet recording cartridge is mounted on this carriage.
As the ink jet recording head, there has been known the one that discharges ultra fine liquid droplets by the utilization of thermal energy generated by use of electrothermal transducing devices or the like or the one that discharges liquid droplets by the deflection of each pair of electrodes provided therefor. Of these heads, the ink jet recording head that discharges ink liquid droplets by the utilization of thermal energy makes it possible to record in higher resolution, because the liquid discharge portion (discharge ports) can be arranged in high density for the formation of flying liquid droplets by discharging liquid droplets for use of recording. As a result, among other advantages, an apparatus of the kind has an advantage that not only recording is possible in higher resolution, but also, the apparatus can be made compact with ease. This type of the apparatus has already been in wide use practically.
The ink jet recording head that discharges recording liquid by the utilization of thermal energy is provided with discharge ports (orifices) through which liquid is discharged; liquid flow paths communicated with the discharge ports; and a plurality of discharge energy generating members, such as electrothermal transducing devices, which are arranged for the liquid flow paths, respectively. Then, the structure is arranged so that print recording is made with the provision of discharge energy (thermal energy for creating film boiling in liquid, for example) by the application of driving signals to the discharge energy generating members in accordance with the recording information, which enables liquid to be discharged from the discharge ports as liquid droplets.
Here, with reference to FIG. 33, the description will be made of the general structure of the ink jet recording head described above.
The ceiling plate 1100 that constitutes the ink jet recording head H is formed by resin material by molding integrally with a ceiling plate member that forms a liquid chamber 1104 and a plurality of liquid flow paths 1103 to retain liquid; a discharge port formation member 1101 that forms a plurality of discharge ports (orifices) 1102 each communicated with the plural liquid flow paths 1103, respectively; and a recording liquid supply port 1105. Also, for the heater board (elemental substrate) 1107, the heaters (electrothermal transducing devices) 1106 which are arranged in plural lines on a silicon substrate, and the electric wires (not shown) made of aluminum or the like to supply electric power to the heaters are formed by the known film forming technologies and techniques. These are positioned and fixed on the base plate 1110 by the application of the known die bonding techniques. The wiring substrate 1108 is provided with the wiring lines connected with the wiring of the heater board 1107 by use of the known wire bonding, and a plurality of pads 1109 which are positioned at each end portion of the wiring lines to receive electric signals from the apparatus main body. Then, the ceiling plate 1100 and the heater board 1107 are positioned and connected corresponding to each of the liquid flow paths 1103 and heaters 1106, which are fixed on the base plate 1110 together with the wiring substrate 1108, hence forming the ink jet recording head H.
The ink jet recording apparatus that uses the ink jet recording head described above is mainly connected with a word processor or a personal computer, and used as a color printer. Besides, it is used as the engine for a facsimile equipment or a copying machine.
FIG. 34 is a perspective view which shows the conventional ink jet recording cartridge. As shown in FIG. 34, the ink jet recording head H is mounted in the predetermined position of the ink jet recording cartridge main body 1130. Then, adjacent to the ink jet recording head H, the sub-tank 1120 is arranged for use of recording liquid. The sub-tank 1120 and the ink jet recording head H are supported by the supporting members 1121 and 1122. Further, in the interior of the ink jet recording cartridge main body 1130 covered by the covering member 1131, a recording liquid tank (not shown) is incorporated. With the structure thus arranged, recording liquid is supplied from this tank to the sub-tank 1120 appropriately.
For the ink jet recording head, there is the one having plural colors of ink (four colors, black:Bk, yellow:Y, magenta:M, and cyan:C, for example) each allocated to the divided ink discharge unit in one head, which is a type that although the number of discharge ports per color is small, the costs of manufacture is low. There is also the one having a plurality of ink jet recording cartridges arranged in line with each of the separated recording heads individually arranged per color, although the costs of manufacture is high, which is a type that the number of discharge ports can be increased per color. There is still the one presenting a combined head type in which a plurality of individual ink discharge units are incorporated on one base per color. Here, it is unstable to apply the one head type mode to a higher printing as a matter of course.
In order to enhance the print quality, there is a type in which the plural ink jet recording cartridges are arranged side by side so as to provide the recording heads individually for each color. Then, in some cases, each of the cartridges may be provided with a medium to store the recorded properties of its own or correction data for it. Also, for a type of the combination heads, the positional deviation of ink droplets themselves is measured in advance for those to be discharged from the discharge ports of each color arranged for the orifice plate. Then, the arrangement is made so as to correct the amount of such deviation when assembling each of the recording heads on the base in good precision. Further, the combined head type is such that the plural recording heads are formed on the base integrally. As a result, not only the deviation between each of printed colors is smaller, but also, it is easier to execute the head replacements.
FIG. 35 is a perspective view which shows the assembled body of the conventional ink jet recording head disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-239971.
As shown in FIG. 35, the assembled body of the conventional ink jet recording head comprises the base 1301 on which a plurality of ink discharge units are formed with ink discharge ports formed therefor; and the printed board 1302 having the ROM 1304 incorporated thereon to record and store the positional data defined per ink discharge unit in accordance with the actually measured data on the positional deviation between each of ink droplets to be discharged from the plural discharge ports, and the data on the properties of each ink discharge unit or the data needed for the correction of such properties. For the assembled body of the ink jet recording head, the ink supply ports 1303 are also provided to receive ink to be supplied from the ink tank or the like (which is not shown). For the printed board 1302, contact electrodes 1305 are arranged, and the control unit of the recording apparatus main body is connected with the assembled body of the ink jet recording head through these contact electrodes 1305.
When the printing operation is executed, the control unit of the recording apparatus main body performs the correction process of the pulse emit timing or the pulse width of the driving signal, which drives each of the energy generating members to discharge ink, in accordance with the data thus stored. Therefore, the conventionally assembled body of the ink jet recording head thus structured is able to prevent defective prints due to the print deviation or the like, hence making the color printing possible.
Further, in recent years, with the increased needs for the full color recording in higher quality at higher speeds, there is more demand on the further enhancement of the printing speeds, resolutions, and gradations. In order to make the photographic image quality possible, there has been proposed the implementation of a higher gradation by use of the ink tank arranged for six colors or seven colors by changing the density of each color, not to mention the use of the aforesaid four color ink, such as Y, M, C, and Bk. For the implementation of the higher speed and higher quality ink jet recording apparatus, it is desirable to use a type in which a plurality of ink jet recording head cartridges are provided, a type in which heads are combined, or a type in which these types are combined. Further, in order to implement the higher quality color images without having color unevenness or print deviations, there is a need for the exact placement of impact positions of ink droplets themselves which are discharged from each of the recording heads. To this end, the discharge ports of each recording head should be arranged exactly in the predetermined positions.
Now, therefore, it is known to provide an abutting portion for the ink jet recording cartridge in relation to the carriage in order to mount the ink jet recording cartridge exactly in the predetermined position of the carriage.
However, it is generally practiced that a head chip (head unit) is assembled in a molded housing to constitute an ink jet recording cartridge. For the ink jet recording cartridge thus structured, there is a fear that the assembling precision tends to vary when the head chip is installed on the housing. As a result, even if a structure is arranged so that the abutting portion provided for the ink jet recording cartridge is in contact with the carriage for the enhancement of the installation accuracy of the cartridge on the carriage, there is still a fear that the position and direction of the discharge port arrays tend to vary per each individual product. When a plurality of head cartridges are mounted on one carriage in particular, it is required to position the discharge port arrays of the recording heads themselves per head cartridge.
Also, for the ink jet recording cartridge of the combined head type described above, it is required to assemble each of the color ink discharge units on the orifice plate in precision higher still. Furthermore, it is required to minimize the positional deviation when the orifice plate is bonded to the base member. As a result, there is a need for the apparatus for manufacturing the ink jet recording head cartridge to provide a higher precision, which makes the costs of manufacturing apparatus higher still as a matter of course. Also, there is a need for more rigid tolerance of precision of each part that forms the recording cartridge. There is a problem encountered that the costs of the required parts become higher inevitably.
Also, for the recording cartridge of the type having the various properties of its own or having the correction data, there is a tendency that difference may take place in the installation positions when the recording cartridge is installed on an inspection equipment and on a carriage actually due to the deformation of the recording cartridge itself, the defective performance of abutting to the carriage, or the like. This inevitably brings about the deviation in the relative positions of each of the color recording cartridges themselves with the resultant deviation in prints themselves between the recorded images in each of the colors. Also, when the replacement of recording cartridges is required or in the similar case, the user of the ink jet recording apparatus should operate the adjustment of the print deviations, which becomes a heavy burden on the user side.
Further, for the combined head type which also has the various properties of its own cartridge or the correction data, there is a need for the process to obtain the required data by executing the off-line printing tests, as well as for the adjustment process on the basis of the data thus obtained. As a result, the manufacture steps of the recording head cartridge becomes complicated, leading to the reduction of the productivity. Also, there is a need for the provision of hardware and software sources (such as memories) required for the correction of the positional deviations. The costs of the ink jet recording apparatus itself becomes inevitably higher. In addition, for the inspection of the positional deviations (print deviations), extra ink and recording medium are needed, which presents unfavorable problems from the economical and ecological viewpoints.
With a view to solving the problems discussed above, the present invention is designed. It is an object of the invention to provide an ink jet recording cartridge capable of adjusting the position and direction of the discharge port array of a recording head easily and exactly corresponding to the predetermined standard position, a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording cartridge, and an apparatus for manufacturing an ink jet recording cartridge, as well as to provide a recording apparatus.
It is another object of the invention to provide an inexpensive ink jet recording cartridge but capable of presenting high quality images without any complicated adjustment mechanism and adjustment process needed for correcting the deviation in prints, a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording cartridge, and an apparatus for manufacturing an ink jet recording cartridge, as well as to provide a recording apparatus.
It is still another object of the invention to provide an ink jet recording cartridge to be mounted on a movable carriage, comprising an ink jet recording head for recording by discharging ink from the discharge ports to a recording medium, and a housing for holding the ink jet recording head. For the housing of this cartridge, extrusions are arranged to abut upon the grooved portions arranged for the carriage, and the extrusions are capable of adjusting the relative positions of the ink jet recording cartridge and the carriage.
With the ink jet recording cartridge of the invention of the kind, it becomes possible to position the discharge ports of the recording head easily and exactly corresponding to the predetermined position in the carriage, because even if the precision varies when the recording head is installed on the housing of the cartridge, the extrusions are structured to shift in accordance with such variation.
Also, the portions of the extrusions that abut upon the grooves may be structured so as to be retracted in the direction opposite to the abutting direction of the ink jet recording cartridge toward the carriage.
Further, the structure may be arranged so that the extrusions are formed integrally with the housing to reduce the number of parts of the ink jet recording cartridge.
Further, the extrusions may be formed by resin material.
Also, the extrusions may be structured with cam members rotatively fixed to the housing. With this arrangement, it becomes possible to readjust the retracting width of the extrusions.
Also, the extrusions may be provided for the side face of the housing, which is substantially perpendicular to the direction of the reciprocal traveling of the carriage.
Further, the housing is provided with the two side faces, and on one of them, an extrusion is arranged, and on the other side face, two of them are arranged. With the structure thus arranged, it becomes possible to position the ink jet recording cartridge in the vertical and horizontal direction, as well as to adjust the angle with respect to the carriage.
Also, among the ridge portions of the housing, the ridge portion, which abuts upon the carriage when mounted on the carriage, is formed to be spherical to make it possible to mount the ink jet recording cartridge on the carriage smoothly.
Further, the structure is formed so that the contact surface is arranged for the housing with contact pads which are connected with the contact points provided for the carriage, and both on the ends below such contact surface, the substantially triangular extrusions are arranged, respectively. Thus, when the ink jet recording cartridge is mounted on the carriage, it is possible to prevent the recording head from being in contact with the contact pads to stain them or to damage the recording head itself.
Further, it is preferable to arrange the structure so that a rib type extrusion is provided for the portion of the housing between the substantially triangular extrusions themselves.
Further, the structure may be formed so that above the contact surface on the surface of the housing where the contact surface is arranged, the extrusion that exert pressure on the housing to be pressed to the carriage.
Also, the carriage is provided with a push-out member to push out the ink jet recording cartridge out of the carriage by pressing the ink jet recording cartridge when removing the ink jet recording cartridge mounted on the carriage, and on the portion of the housing pressed by the push-out member, the inclined surface is formed for the push-out member to slide thereon. With the structure thus arranged, it becomes possible to smoothly operate the removal of the ink jet recording cartridge from the carriage.
Further, in order to arrange the discharge ports for the predetermined position in the carriage, it is preferable to arrange the structure so that the abutting portions of the extrusions against the grooves are retracted by a specific distance in the direction opposite to the abutting direction of the ink jet recording cartridge toward the carriage.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an ink jet recording cartridge to be mounted on a movable carriage, comprising an ink jet recording head for recording by discharging ink from the discharge ports to a recording medium, and a housing for holding the ink jet recording head. For this cartridge, the housing is provided with adjusting means which abuts upon the carriage for arranging the discharge ports of the ink jet recording cartridge for the predetermined position in the carriage when the ink jet recording cartridge is mounted on the carriage.
With the ink jet recording cartridge of the invention of the kind, it becomes possible to position the discharge ports of the recording head easily and exactly corresponding to the predetermined position in the carriage, because even if the precision varies when the recording head is installed on the housing of the cartridge, the adjusting means is structured to make the required adjustment in accordance with such variation. Further, it may be structured to arrange the adjusting means to be rotatively fixed to the housing, and the contact portion with the carriage is then structured with an abutting pin eccentric to the rotational axis.
In addition, the ink jet recording head may be formed to be provided with electrothermal transducing members for generating thermal energy for use of ink discharges.
Further, it maybe possible to arrange the structure so that the ink jet recording head discharges ink from the discharge ports by utilization of film boiling created in ink by thermal energy applied by the electrothermal transducing members.
Also, in accordance with the present invention, a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording cartridge, which is provided with an ink jet recording head for recording on a recording medium by discharging ink from the discharge ports, and a housing for holding the ink jet recording head, which is provided with the extrusions that abut upon the grooved portions arranged for the movable carriage, comprises the step of adjusting the relative positions of the ink jet recording cartridge and the carriage in order to arrange the discharge ports for the predetermined position in the carriage by shifting the positions of the extrusions in the housing.
With this method, it becomes possible to manufacture an ink jet recording cartridge capable of positioning the discharge ports of the recording head easily and exactly corresponding to the predetermined position in the carriage even if the precision varies when the recording head is installed on the cartridge.
Further, it may be possible to arrange the method so that the step of adjusting the relative positions of the ink jet recording cartridge and the carriage by shifting the positions of the extrusions in the housing is to be a step of retracting the abutting portions of the extrusions against the grooves in a specific distance in the direction opposite to the abutting direction of the ink jet recording cartridge toward the carriage.
Further, it may be possible to arrange the method so that the step of retracting the abutting portions of the extrusions against the grooves in a specific distance in the direction opposite to the abutting direction of sad ink jet recording cartridge toward the carriage comprises the steps of fixing the ink jet recording cartridge in the same condition as being mounted on the carriage; recognizing the positions of the discharge ports of the fixed ink jet recording cartridge; calculating the specific distance in accordance with the difference between the predetermined positions in the carriage and the recognized positions of the discharge ports; and retracting the portions of the extrusions abutting against the grooves in the calculated amount of the specific distance in the direction.
Further, it may be possible to arrange the method so that the extrusions are formed by resin material, and the step of retracting in a specific distance the portions of the extrusions abutting against the grooves in the direction opposite to the abutting direction of the ink jet recording cartridge against the carriage is the step of retracting the portions in the specific distance in the direction by fusing the portions with ultrasonic oscillators in contact under pressure with the abutting portions of the extrusions against the grooves, or the extrusions are structured with the cam members rotatively fixed to the housing, and the step of retracting in a specific distance the portions of the extrusions abutting against the grooves in the direction opposite to the abutting direction of the ink jet recording cartridge against the carriage is the step of retracting by rotating the cam members the abutting portions of the cam members against the grooves in the specific distance in the direction. With the method thus arranged, it becomes possible to manufacture an ink jet recording cartridge capable of readjusting the retracting width of the extrusions.
Also, in accordance with the present invention, a method for manufacturing an ink jet recording cartridge, which is provided with an ink jet recording head for recording on a recording medium by discharging ink from the discharge ports, and a housing for holding the ink jet recording head, which is provided with adjusting means that abut upon the carriage when the ink jet recording cartridge is mounted on the carriage, in order to arrange the discharge ports of the ink jet recording cartridge for the predetermined position in the carriage, and also, the adjusting means which is structured with the abutting pins rotatively fixed to the housing, and the contact sections with the carriage which is made eccentric to the rotational shafts, is arranged to comprise the step of fixing the ink jet recording cartridge in the same condition as being mounted on the carriage; recognizing the positions of the discharge ports of the fixed ink jet recording cartridge; calculating the rotational amounts of the eccentric pins in accordance with the difference between the predetermined positions in the carriage and the recognized positions of the discharge ports; and rotating the eccentric pins only by the calculated rotational amounts.
With this method, it becomes possible to manufacture an ink jet recording cartridge capable of positioning the discharge ports of the recording head easily and exactly corresponding to the predetermined position in the carriage even if the precision varies when the recording head is installed on the cartridge.
In addition, the ink jet recording cartridge of the present invention may be the one manufactured by the method described above.
Also, the apparatus of the present invention for manufacturing an ink jet recording cartridge, which is provided with an ink jet recording head for recording on a recording medium by discharge ink from the discharge ports, and a housing for holding the ink jet recording head, which is provided with extrusions that abut upon grooves provided for the movable carriage, comprises fixing means for fixing the ink jet recording cartridge in the same condition as being mounted on the carriage; discharge port recognition means for recognizing the positions of the discharge ports of the fixed ink jet recording cartridge; an index of predetermined positions to store the predetermined positions of the discharge ports in relation to the carriage; calculating means for calculating specific distances for the portions of the extrusions abutting against the grooves to retract in the direction opposite to the abutting direction of the ink jet recording cartridge toward the carriage in accordance with the difference between the predetermined positions in relation to the carriage and the recognized positions of the discharge ports; an index of processing amounts to store the calculated specific distances; and retracting means for retracting the portions of the extrusions abutting against the grooves by the calculated specific distances in the direction or the apparatus of the present invention for manufacturing an ink jet recording cartridge, which is provided with an ink jet recording head for recording on a recording medium by discharge ink from the discharge ports, and a housing for holding the ink jet recording head, which is provided with adjusting means that abut upon the carriage for arranging the discharge ports of the ink jet recording cartridge in the predetermined position in the carriage when the ink jet recording cartridge is mounted on the movable carriage, and the adjusting means which is rotatively fixed to the housing, and structured by eccentric pin members having the contact surfaces in contact with the carriage which is made eccentric to the rotational shafts thereof, comprises fixing means for fixing the ink jet recording cartridge in the same condition as being mounted on the carriage; discharge port recognition means for recognizing the positions of the discharge ports of the fixed ink jet recording cartridge; an index of predetermined positions to store the predetermined positions of the discharge ports in relation to the carriage; calculating means for calculating the rotational amounts of the eccentric pin members in accordance with the difference between the predetermined positions in relation to the carriage and the recognized positions of the discharge ports; an index of rotational amounts to store the calculated rotational amounts of the eccentric pin members; and rotating means for rotating the eccentric pin members only by the calculated rotational amounts.
With the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, it becomes possible to manufacture an ink jet recording cartridge capable of positioning the discharge ports of the recording head easily and exactly corresponding to the predetermined position in the carriage even if the precision varies when the recording head is installed on the cartridge.
In addition, the ink jet recording cartridge of the present invention may be manufactured by use of the apparatus for manufacturing an ink jet recording cartridge described above.
The recording apparatus of the present invention comprises an ink jet recording cartridge of the invention described above, and means for supplying driving signals applied to discharging ink from the ink jet recording head.
Also, the recording apparatus of the invention is provided with recording medium carrying means to carry a recording medium for receiving ink discharged from the ink jet recording head.
Also, it may be possible to structure the recording apparatus of the invention so as to perform recording by discharging ink from the ink jet recording head to adhere ink to a recording medium.
In accordance with the present invention described above, the portions of the extrusions that abut upon the grooves arranged for the carriage are allowed to retract in the direction opposite to the abutting direction of the ink jet recording cartridge against the carriage or by the adjusting means that abut upon the carriage when the ink jet recording cartridge is mounted on the carriage the discharge ports of the ink jet recording cartridge are arranged for the predetermined position in the carriage. Therefore, even if the precision varies when the recording head is installed on the housing of the cartridge, it becomes possible to position the discharge ports of the recording head easily and exactly corresponding to the predetermined position in the carriage.